8 things I learned while on Team 58Because I don’t want to be super sappy this month I just want to say thank you to all who supported me, and take this blog to share with you what I learned serving on this team.

Put your best foot forward, always: All the work that you put out will be seen so it’s better if what you put out is your best work, every single time. This leaves you a legacy of perfection and consistency that will always benefit you.

Make a bad day into a good day: Even when you have 5 tests, officer work due, college apps to complete and then some, try to think of all the positives in every situation. Push through the bad, instead of ignoring the bad, because one day it might catch up to you.

Be kind but be firm: tell the truth, always, be honest, and be gentle but don’t let other people walk all over you. Be firm, don’t change your mind often.

Observe and appreciate: Observe your surroundings, every trip our team went on we enjoyed ourselves, even if we were exhausted we made the best out of every situation, when we were late we laughed, when we were sad we enjoyed an ice cream.

Find the good in everyone: Not everyone is going to be your friend, not everyone is going to be nice to you. But find the good in them to make the situation better. If the rude hotel clerk is giving you an attitude, think about how great her lipstick complements her skin tone, or how pretty her eyes are. Find beauty in everything, even if it may seem difficult.

Be professional: If you can’t post about it, or can’t tell someone about it, don’t do it. Sometimes things come around to bite you even if you thought it was impossible. Leave a lasting impression of who you want to be, allow people to respect you for the work you’ve done, instead of disrespect you for the bad you did.

Be yourself: now this may contradict #6, but there is a difference and the key is finding it. Be yourself, don’t change for anyone. Don’t let anyone else tell you who to be.

​This past week was DECA week for me and I had a blast! Being a four year DECA member I definitely wanted to make this DECA week memorable. I enjoyed lots of events at with my own chapter and with others! Here’s what happened!Little Diamond/ Big DiamondIn past years many chapters did this and I’m glad I could bring it back. Basically, we pair off first and second year members with third and fourth year members. All of DECA week the upperclassmen leave gifts and clues for their little diamonds and they get revealed at the end of the week at our DECA Breakfast. I couldn’t contain my excitement and asked if I could be paired up with two little diamonds instead of one. They got lots of goodies and gifts according to their interests and hobbies that they told me about on their application. This part of DECA week was my favorite because we got so many new members to meet new people!InductionsMy final induction ceremony was a success, and though I was not inducted as a chapter officer I was inducted as a member of honor and it felt great! So many returning members and so many new faces I got to see in the crowd were all excited for a new year of adventures. MSD DECA also allowed me to speak at their induction ceremony which was planned by their lovely Executive Vice President Emily and was run extremely well!

DECA BreakfastAt the end of the week we finally got to reveal ourselves to our little diamonds as well as enjoy some awesome breakfast donated by Brooklyn Water Bagels. To me, the breakfast is always the start of a new year, and this year it’s going to be EPIC!

Chapter socials can sometimes be a burden to plan but the overall effects of having a successful social are well worth the effort. Whether your chapter is mingling over a bowl of ice-cream or at a restaurant follow my 3 step path to always having success with your socials.Operation: The first and most primary thing to establish when you know your chapter needs to socialize a bit more is to establish the operation. Who will be coming? What they will be coming to and why they will and should attend. The most successful socials have a clear path of operation. And establishing goals that you want your social to meet before planning will make the process a lot more smoother and easy going. The simplest socials to plan often contain a few minutes to mingle, an icebreaker and maybe some food to chow down on after or during the social. The main goal of all socials is to SOCIALIZE so make sure your event provides plenty of opportunities for this.Organization: Failing to plan is planning to fail. Always set your socials far enough in advance so you have ample time to get everything organized and under control. Something that I always find helpful is to make to do lists or mark up a calendar with deadlines to get things accomplished. When planning events in school make sure to get your location cleared or if your social is off-campus make sure the location is not over or double booked. Setting up job tasks for each person involved in the planning process truly ensures that nothing gets left un-done and lastly I always recommend to even draw up a blue print of the set up in your allocated space.Opportunity: Never let the overall point of a chapter social to leave your sight. Socials are the times where bonds can be created. From officer-member or maybe even member- member. A stronger more united chapter is proven to be more spirited and cohesive. Then when your chapters travel to CDC or ICDC we can see what type of families really make Florida DECA so EPIC!

​As the school year approaches we need to embrace the fact that socialization and team work tactics need to be added back into our daily routine. The most important lesson about team work in my opinion is that you need to respect AND accept others. No team runs efficiently when there are problems involved. Learn to respect all people in order to live a more peaceful life. But there are also more lessons I wish for you all to learn….. “10 ways to inspire your team” are lessons I hope you all commit to memory in order to run a more cohesive group, establish peace and to complete a successful and meaningful project.

Solving, Not Just Selling

Purpose, Not Just Profit

Know the Ingredients, Not Just the Recipe

Learning, Not Just Lecturing

Innovation, Not Just Ideation

Significance, Not Just Success

Ownership, Not Just Accountability

Respect, Not Just Recognition

Personal Growth, Not Just Responsibility

Trust, Not Just Transparency

Though we have an introverted personality and team work might not be our first choice of doing things, following these rules allows you to be a more open and respectful person. When dealing with small or large groups of people having consideration for others is vital. Put yourself in someone elses shoes before making a decision and when in a group, make it a GROUP DECISION. Democracies are vital when working with others. Take these lessons into account next time you’re put into a group project or team discussion and see how smoothly it will go J!

For more info on these rules visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/05/06/10-things-inspire-teams-to-optimally-perform/

As our summer drags on and school approaches, moments at the mall should be seized in order to start back to school shopping early, and when in DECA grabbing a few business dress staples would be extremely beneficial. The art of shopping is to start small, and when building a professional wardrobe one must always start with the basics: solid colors, neutrals and anything that matches your blazer at first glance! Make sure that all that you buy; you feel comfortable in, nothing too tight but again nothing too big. Sometimes just making the purchase won’t be enough and alterations will have to be done, but just ensure that everything is as close to the right fit for YOU as possible. Tops: My best bet is to start off with the most basic item: the white button down. You can never go wrong with this top and some dress pants, in most cases simplicity is key, and in a professional setting you want to let what you have to say do the talking instead of letting others base your qualifications off of your appearance. Where to buy: Express, Macy’s, JcPenny : Higher end stores will sometimes have great sales and the higher quality will allow for longevity of this necessary item. Bottoms: To cater to both my ladies and gents I personally think that a nice pair of dress pants is the way to go, whether loose or slim fit, dress pants allow for a polished and poised look. I always recommend to buy dress pants too big than too small so you have room for alterations and hemming. For an initial purchase, khaki pants are a good choice as they match many tops and also look great with the DECA blazer. Where to buy: Gap, Mens Warehouse, Forever 21, NewYork & Company: Make sure you pick the right fit that you feel most comfortable in. Shoes: I could go on for days about shoes, but the most important thing about getting a good pair of shoes for a business setting is that you can stand in them for long periods of time, sometimes we have to play the waiting game at competitions and it’s important to be able to focus on our presentation instead of how bad our feet hurt, flats and loafers are prime options. Where to buy: Aldo, Burlington, Call It Spring I hope you learned something! Happy Shopping! Extra links: http://work.chron.com/etiquette-rules-dress-business-environment-4737.html

Choices, Chances, Changes. It’s rare that something stays consistent for a while, because in order to improve something you MUST change it for the better. The 2015-2016 school year will bring forth some changes to the world of competitive events that I recommend you take note of prior to starting your projects this summer (if that’s your plan). The most immediate change, and my personal favorite, is the fact that the Executive Summary for SOME written events can now range from 1-3 pages in length; instead of the previously mandatory 1 page. This will allow competitors to explain and summarize their projects for the judges in a more comprehensive way, rather than having to explain all the hard work that went into the project into just a few paragraphs. Another major change is that now instead of your presentation score being based off of your responses to the judge’s questions, they will now be based off of performance indicators (similar to a role play scenario). Also ALL presentation times are now 15 minutes in total. There is no longer a set of time set aside for judges questions. They may ask questions during your presentation.

Here is a presentation of the competitive event updates: EPIC COMPETITIONS Many written events have also gone through MANY changes:·Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan will now be known as Innovation Plan·Entrepreneurship Participation-Creating an Independent Business will now be known as Start Up Business Plan·Entrepreneurship Written Event will now be known as Independent Business Plan·Entrepreneurship Growing your own Business will now be known as Business Growth Plan·Entrepreneurship Participating-Creating a Franchise will now be known as Franchise Business Plan I highly advise, before basing your manuals off of outdated examples, that you take a look at your project’s guidelines and note any changes in order to minimize the deduction of points as well as to ensure an accurate and successful project! For more information, don’t forget to check out the link below!http://www.deca.org/high-school-programs/high-school-competitive-events/

ICDC 2015 Through My Eyes Nothing less than amazing. ICDC 2015 in Orlando Florida marks my third ICDC, and though in my home state, was the best ever. The journey began on Friday as my chapter ventured off to Magic Kingdom and Epcot of Walt Disney World, a day filled with smiles, laughs and big mouse ears. Saturday continued our Disney adventure as we conquered Hollywood Studios, then later that night was the long awaited Opening Session. This year the stage was decorated with creative designs and beautiful models, a percussion band a group of break dancers that kept the crowd moving. Then entirety of the opening session was exciting and kept all the members entertained and hyped all the competitors for their presentations and role plays. Sunday was briefing day where you get to scope out the competition, my group took Sunday morning to practice and later that day we embarked on another journey to Florida DECA night at Blue Man group (it was my first time!) which was nothing but extraordinary. The show was so entertaining and creative and it was followed by an amazing meal at the Hard Rock Café. Monday is where it all got serious and I woke up bright and early to greet advisors and administrators for Administrator Day, not to mention I got to speak on behave of DECA students everywhere about my DECA story, which really made me feel special. Later that morning me and my group grabbed some breakfast and practiced, then it was our time to shine. We killed our presentation! I was so excited for mini awards, no matter what happened I knew that my team had laid it all out on the table. Monday night was The DECA Party at Universals, Islands of Adventure, they closed the entire park just for us DECA members. As a Florida native I had never seen the park through this perspective, the night sky was decorated with the amusement park lights and projections of “I AM DECA” on the buildings. Tuesday was a rollercoaster, and it began by my group advancing to the finals! After one more presentation and a great Grand Awards session……..we had done it….. My group and I were Top 10 International DECA winners! It still gives me goosebumps to say. ICDC 2015 was an experience I will remember for the rest of my life, I met new people, worked hard, played hard and had the best weekend of my life. It’s been real ICDC. Till’ we meet again in Nashville.

As a long year comes to an end we begin to reflect on what we have learned and what we have changed. Maybe you got a little taller or maybe you can read a little faster? But how has your character changed? Your leadership skills? Your goals? As a leader we must learn to accept change and then learn from it. This year has been life changing for me. I have changed as a person and I have grown as a leader. I present to you * drum roll* “The Top 5 Things I Learned That Changed Me As a Leader”1.Be patient. People are human and they go through rough things every day. Keep that in mind before you get angry or upset. Reach out to someone first if they aren’t getting the job done, and be more personable. Don’t rush any work, because quality is more valuable that quantity 2.Be optimistic. If something doesn’t go right, look at the bright side of things. Always remember that the glass is have full, and remember that that sun will rise tomorrow morning, a failure doesn’t not prove that your world is ending. 3.Be prepared. As a wise man once said “failing to plan is planning to fail” be ready for anything life has to throw at you.4.Take time for you. It is essential that you take time out of your schedule, whether It be a few minutes, an hour or even a day, if need be to distress and relax. A focused and relaxed you is a better you.5.Believe in yourself and your decisions. If you believe in something go for it, fight for it. Give it all you’ve gotLeaders should be the first people to be able to admit to their mistakes and learn and grow from them. Learn from mine and absorb what I learned from them. Get ready, Get set, and go succeed .